The best road trip stops on the Houston to New Orleans drive are Beaumont TX, Lafayette LA and Baton Rouge. The distance from Houston to New Orleans is 348 miles, with a 5h11m driving time.
Planning a Houston to New Orleans road trip itinerary
The Houston to New Orleans drive connects the biggest city in Texas with the most fun city in Louisiana.
Five great things to do in Houston
- 🚀 Reserve your tickets – for Houston’s number one attraction, Space Center Houston.
- 🎵 Discover Houston’s hip-hop culture – on a motorised party bike.
- 🚇 Explore the largest downtown tunnel system in the US – on the Astroville Tunnel Tour.
- 🎨 On a downtown mural tour – learn about Houston’s street art scene.
- 🖼️ Immerse yourself in a spectacular interactive art installation – at Meow Wolf’s Radio Tave.
The top Houston attraction is unquestionably the Space Center Houston, which takes you behind the scenes of the Johnson Space Center. This includes the Mission Briefing Center, and a vast array of high tech exhibitions.
Other attractions include the Houston Museum of Natural Science, Downtown Aquarium, Museum of Fine Arts Houston and Children’s Museum.
For more Houston experiences, try hip hop party bike tours, foodie walks in the Montrose neighbourhood and quirky tours of Houston’s tunnel system.
Top Houston accommodation options include the superb value Club Quarters Houston Downtown and the upscale but boutique Magnolia.
Those wanting to explore the city’s heritage can visit historic home museums, such as the BK House, Gallier House and Hermann-Grima House. The Cabildo, St Louis Cathedral and Old Ursuline Convent also ooze historic grandeur.
Big hitter attractions include the World War II Museum and Audubon Zoo, but there’s a more distinctively NOLA flavour at Mardi Gras World and the New Orleans Jazz Museum.
Top New Orleans experiences include French Quarter food tours, haunted pub crawls, jazz cruises aboard the steamboat Natchez and cemetery walking tours.
5 great experiences in New Orleans to book today
- 🎷 Steamboat Natchez jazz cruise – Go for a jazz cruise aboard the Steamboat Natchez.
- 🍤 French Quarter food tour – Take a French Quarter food tour and discover Louisiana’s distinctive Cajun and Creole cuisine.
- 🐊 Swamp and bayou boat tour – Enjoy a swamp and bayou boat tour with a quieter boat for better wildlife sightings.
- 👻 New Orleans’ dark side – On a tour of New Orleans’ dark side, uncover ghosts, vampires, crime and voodoo.
- 🏛️ Whitney Plantation tour – Hear the true stories of slavery on a Whitney Plantation tour with transport from New Orleans.
Houston to New Orleans distance and driving time
By car, the distance from Houston to New Orleans is 348 miles. That makes for a driving time of around five hours and 11 minutes. The quickest route is largely along the I-10.
The best stops to add to a Houston to New Orleans road trip itinerary are Beaumont TX, Lafayette LA and Baton Rouge.
Houston to New Orleans road trip attractions: Beaumont TX
Beaumont TX is just west of the Louisiana border. The top attraction is the Spindletop Boomtown Museum, located on the site of a 1901 oil strike that changed West Texas forever. It’s a recreated town, with rebuilt historic buildings, and plenty of Texas oil history.
Also worth looking at is the McFaddin-Ward House Museum, a heritage home with original art and furnishings. It gives a good idea of how much money was sloshing around in the early 20th century.
Houston to New Orleans drive: Lafayette LA
Lafayette’s top attractions include Acadian Village, a recreated 19th-century Cajun village, which plays host to artisans and craftspeople among the historic homes.
Vermilionville is similar, but the living history museum here looks at the cultures of Native American and Creole people as well as the Acadians.
Elsewhere, the Cathedral of St John the Evangelist is famed for its stained glass windows.
Top Lafayette experiences include Cajun food tours.
Best stops between Houston and New Orleans: Baton Rouge
The obvious attraction in Baton Rouge is the Louisiana Capitol Building, but the castle-like Old Capitol Building is more attractive. It’s also now a museum, with interactive exhibits on democracy and the colourful characters who have walked the corridors over the decades. The colourful stained glass dome is spectacular, too.
As a museum, the Capitol Park Museum is better, telling multiple strands of Louisiana’s story. Other Baton Rouge attractions include the Magnolia Mound Plantation, built in 1791, and the environmentally educational Bluebonnet Swamp Nature Center.
More Houston and New Orleans road trips
- Getting to Houston from interstate: The best stops on the Little Rock to Houston drive and Nashville to Houston drive.
- Texas road trips from Houston: The best stops on the Houston to Amarillo drive, Houston to Austin drive, Houston to Beaumont drive, Houston to Fort Worth drive and Houston to Lubbock drive.
- Interstate road trips from Houston: Where to stop on the Houston to Albuqueruque drive, Houston to Hot Springs AR drive, Houston to Memphis drive, Houston to Oklahoma City drive and Houston to Wichita drive.
- Heading east from Houston: Guides to the Houston to Baton Rouge drive, Houston to Lafayette drive and Houston to Biloxi drive.
- Getting to New Orleans: The best stops on the Atlanta to New Orleans drive and Tallahassee to New Orleans drive.
